Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
SLOT, n.2, v.2 Also sloat, slote. [slot]
I. n. †1. The hollow depression running down the middle of the chest following the line of the breast-bone, freq. in phr. the slot o' the briest (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Fif. 1899 Proc. Philosoph. Soc. Gsw. XXXI. 39); the pit under the throat (Slk. 1825 Jam.; Ork. 1929 Marw.).Sc. 1704 A. Pitcairne Works (1715) 274:
Apply to the Slot of his Breast a Pultess of Theriac.Sc. 1766 Scots Mag. (Dec.) 625:
A mark upon the defunct's breast, that reached down towards the slot of his breast.Sc. 1817 Blackwoods Mag. (Sept.) 616:
A wound in his body, just below the slot of his breast.Mry. 1830 T. D. Lauder Moray Floods (1873) 206:
Wi' the water up to the sloat o' the breast.Mry. 1873 J. Brown Round Table Club 380:
It winna gang past the slot o' her breest.Per. 1904 E.D.D.:
Rub the slot o's breist wi' olive oil.
2. A hollow or dip between two high ridges of a hill, a gully (Sc. 1808 Jam., the slot of a hill). Dim. slotek, a narrow alley between two houses (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928)).
3. A pit, hole in the ground, specif. one on the shores of Carlingwark Loch at Castle Douglas (Kcb. 1970).Kcb. 1845 Stat. Acc.2 IV. 156:
The Gallows Slote, or pit into which the victims of the cruelty or revenge of the Earls of Douglas were cast after being hanged.Kcb. 1876 M. M. Harper Rambles 15:
It is to this day called the “Gallows Slot,” or “Gallows Pit.”
4. The hem of a garment or other piece of cloth in which a draw-string runs (Cai., Per. 1970). Also in n.Eng. dial. Comb. slot-hem, id.Sc. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 508:
A couple of tapes drawn tight in a slot-hem.
5. As in Eng., a longitudinal hole in a door, etc. Dim. slottie in comb. slottie-johnnie, a child's nickname for a postman (Abd. 1959 I. and P. Opie Lore and Lang. Schoolchildren 165).
†II. v. To make (a) slit(s) or score(s) on the carcase of a slaughtered animal, to scarify (flesh) in order to bleed it.Slg. 1714 Slg. Burgh Rec. (1889) 135:
That no flesh be spoiled nor slotted in the craig.
